r/F1Technical • u/mrbitterpants • 14d ago

Regulations How direct/specific do steering wheel settings need to be? Eg. Are macros allowed?

Can macros be created to execute a series of settings changes with a single driver input? Eg. A ‘turn 4’ macro that changes brake balance, differential and battery deployment with one button press? Or must each driver input only affect one parameter?

I’m guessing that the engine mode settings change multiple parameters within the engine at once so maybe macros are possible for other settings?

51 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

View all comments

10

u/ghrrrrowl 14d ago edited 14d ago

I remember when they used to have a button they’d push when going into certain corners (usually hairpins), that was pre-programmed to do all the required down shifting and diff settings for that specific corner, automatically

(They also used to run full automatic up shifts for the whole lap).

ABS, traction control, self levelling ride height, live pit-to-car suspension, brake and engine map adjustments during race laps….the only thing missing in the 90s was active aero and that’s because it was old tech and banned in the 70s

3

u/mrbitterpants 14d ago

I know remote changes of the car from the pits aren’t allowed but it’d be kinda neat if they had enough compute power in the car to process all the sensor data locally and determine the best car settings per mini sector and just have the driver hit OK or Cancel.

5

u/ghrrrrowl 14d ago

Oh they certainly have enough onboard computing power…tape a smartphone to the dash would be enough. There must be regulation issues.